The field of the present invention relates to optical devices coupled to optical fibers. Packaging of fiber-coupled optical devices is disclosed herein.
Packaging an optical component for ready coupling to an optical fiber is a costly and time consuming portion of the manufacturing process for optical devices for telecommunications. Connectors are available for enabling rapid connection between optical fibers, each fiber being provided with one of a pair of mating connectors. In order to provide a packaged optical device with such a connector, it is often the case that a short segment of optical fiber is employed within the package, with one end optically coupled to the device and the other end terminating in the connector and available for connection to another optical fiber with a mating connector.
Disclosed herein are apparatus and methods for providing a packaged fiber-coupled optical device that incorporates a segment of optical fiber. The configuration of the package subassemblies enables the optical device to be readily assembled with and optically coupled to the optical fiber segment, and thereby to be provided with a fiber-optic connector.